Democratic Nature of Cuba

A common misconception of the Island in Cuba is that it is undemocratic. In this post, I will examine democracy in Cuba. I'll begin by quoting the Cuban Constitution.

Electoral Process of 1992 Cuban Constitution:

ARTICLE 131. All citizens, with the legal capacity to do so, have the right to take part in the leadership of the state, directly or through their elected representatives to the bodies of People’s Power, and to participate, for this purpose and as prescribed by law, in the periodic elections and people’s referendums through free, equal and secret vote. Every voter has only one vote.

ARTICLE 132. All Cubans over 16 years of age, men and women alike, have the right to vote except those who:

a) are mentally disabled and have been declared so by court;
b) have committed a crime and because of this have lost the right to vote.

ARTICLE 133. All Cuban citizens, men and women alike, who have full political rights can be elected.

If the election is for deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power they must be more than 18 years old.

ARTICLE 134. Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and other military institutions of the nation have the right to elect and be elected, just like any other citizen.

ARTICLE 135. The law determines the number of delegates that make up each of the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies, in proportion to the number of people who live in each of the regions into which, for electoral purposes, the country is divided.

The delegates to the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies are elected by the voters through free, direct and secret vote. Moreover, the law regulates the procedure for their election.

ARTICLE 136. In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts.

If this does not happen, or in cases of vacant posts, the law regulates the procedure to be followed.
http://www.cubanet.org/ref/dis/const_92_e.htm

Democratic Process:

"The Cuban National Assembly deals with legislative and constitutional matters, has 609 members who serve for five years. Up to 50 per cent are chosen from previously elected provincial and municipal delegates (elected locally for 2½ year terms) and the rest are chosen by national candidate commissions (from which PCC is excluded) in a process which takes many months and involves consultations with the major organizations representing millions of people, such as the trade unions, the women's federation, the small farmers unions, the student and teacher federations, and professional, health care and other associations."
http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/70/crumpacker.html

This excerpt shows a process that doesn't favor the Communist Party in Cuba and uncontrolled by Castro himself. A one man dictatorship in Cuba is quite impossible with so many people in the National Assembly. The only possible dictatorship would be a Proletarian one.

"There is no campaigning in Cuba, the candidates do not promote themselves and money is not a factor their election or decision making. Their biographies, including photos, education, work experience and other matters are posted conspicuously throughout their permanent, unchanging residential districts for months before the elections and details are supplied on request by the election commissions. They usually serve only one term, and most of them have previously been elected by constituents who know them personally or by reputation as to truly represent the common interest. They are not career politicians, they must have frequent meetings with constituents (called "accountability sessions") and they are subject to recall at all times. Where expert information is necessary, it is supplied by special commission or workers' parliaments rather than lobbyists, and proposed legislation (such as the recent imposition of an income tax on some) is voted on, up or down, in order of presentation. The peoples' representatives make the decisions, and once made, they move on to new decisions. In the elections held January 2003 over 93 per cent of eligible Cubans voted valid ballots, electing a National Assembly which truly represents their common interest, without the intervention of electoral parties."
http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/70/crumpacker.html

Cuba's "campaigning" process is far ore democratic than any capitalist nation, including the United States and Great Britain. Money influences Capitalist politics to a huge degree and degrades the democratic process to a point of blatant wealth dictatorship.

The usual one-term politician is quite democratic. Career politicians in the House of Representatives have a re-election rate in the upper 90 percent. Such high re-election rates deem rather undemocratic unless Americans firmly believe that their government is doing a good job. I'll let you decide if this is true...

93% voter turn out is incredibly high and shows a great interest in politics amongst the Cuban populous that is not matched in the so-called beacons of democracy. Lower class Americans don't vote because voting doesn't change their situation; but by these numbers the Cuban people believe that their vote actually matters.